Thursday, March 4, 2010

Splendor in the Bath

I have to confess that I'm hooked on HGTV. Even my 10 year old daughter loves it, and frequently we snuggle together on my bed for special mother/daughter time. Maybe we're just weird, but who knows when bonding will happen with a tween. Perhaps my love for home decorating shows lies in the excitement of new possibilities: new house, new rooms, new design ideas. What I think I really love about these shows is the quick fix. While I intellectually realize I'm watching a pre-scripted, well planned show, I get sucked into the idea that someone could swoop in, show me 3 homes in my price range, and that I'd be in a new home in less than a 1/2 hour. Better yet, I'd be moved into my first home and decorators would have one room decorated for me in those 30 minutes.

This brings me to my red bathroom. We have been remodeling our home for over a year now (it's more like 10 years since we actually started). In that time the color scheme and style of our interior has changed dramatically. I guess we've gone from farmhouse/nautical to beach/french industrial/modern/transitional (whatever that is), and my new color scheme has grays, blues, creams, browns, and blacks. We've remodeled most of our house with the exception of the bathrooms. Since I've been informed by my CFO (aka my husband) that remodeling is halted until 2012, I must patiently live with our outdated bathrooms until then. Most of them I tolerate (but seriously, how gross is carpet in the bathroom?). The faucets are gold with green corroded pieces chipping off, the cabinets are a pink whitewash, and the dingy tile countertops are a pain to clean. The worst of all is the powder room, and my patience with it is wearing thin. Compared to the rest of the house, the powder room is like being all dressed up with your hair and makeup done, your best jewelry and beautiful clothes on, and then horrifically looking in the mirror and seeing a big green thing in between your teeth.

The powder room has green walls, a red tile countertop, a pink-cast wood vanity, chipped and rusted gold faucets, and a tempermental toilet that frequently decides not to flush. Today I couldn't stand it any more. In my moment of insanity, I had an HGTV moment. I decided it would be a great idea to paint the red countertop. The rest I could live a while longer, but not the countertop. I bought a $5 can of "superbond" paint at the hardware store, taped everything off, and attempted my own 1/2 hour makeover. Although all the windows and doors were open, I quickly realized that the fumes were rediculously overpowering. You never see someone pass out from paint fumes on HGTV. Reluctantly, I had to stop painting. So much for my quick fix. Now I am stuck with half a painted countertop, and I called a professional painter for advice. On a positive note, I feel less irritated with the powder room than I did before I started painting. I think this is going to take longer and cost more than I anticipated.

Now I wonder, the next time my daughter hollers, "Hey mom, House Hunters International is on!", do I resist or once again get sucked into the fantasy? It depends if she made popcorn or not.

1 comment:

Hi Alicia, you are a great writer! I am addicted to HGTV too! For all the same reasons. Just finished watching an episode of House Hunters International myself. Thanks for sharing your great story! Take care,Sharon Frost